Gleanings from the Press

The truth is that never has the democratic and Parliamentary system in this country been more completely vindicated than by the methods Herr Hitler is pursuing in Germany. It has its defects in abundance. What system of government has not? Some of them could and should be remedied before now. But imagine what Hitlerism would mean in Great Britain! Conceive of this country with all political parties except one (and that one not necessarily the Conservative; the Socialism in the National Socialist programme is coming increasingly to the fore) suppressed; the trade union movement suppressed; the employers’ organization controlled by the Government; the churches of every denomination subjected to Government commissioners; the whole of the opposition Press silenced and every paper made a mouthpiece of Government policy; … the public expression of political opinions contrary to the Government’s made a treasonable act; and all this to the accompaniment of physical brutality and mental terrorism.

All is by no means well with Parliament. Some improvement in the methods of election is needed, to make its membership correspond more closely with the divisions of opinion in the country. The House of Lords must be mended unless it is to be ended—and to mend it is better. Administrative experiments… must be carried further. Only so, by perfecting our own institutions, framed by the British genius of the past and proved by centuries of successful working, can the challenge of Hitlerism in Germany, and closer home the challenge of Sir Stafford Cripps and his friends who denounce the Parliamentary system as outworn and declare for sharp and summary methods, be effectively met—The Spectator, London.

FLOURISHING PALESTINE

Successful colonial development depends on two elements—the men of high purpose and the capital to support their effort. A recent visit and 10 years’ previous work of the Economic Board for Palestine has convinced me that Palestine has the men and presents an opportunity now for the serious investment of capital.

In the Jaffa orange and grapefruit industry the country has a unique asset, largely responsible for its present prosperity. The present export of these oranges is about 4,000,000 boxes; in a few years it will probably reach 20,000,000 boxes,

Palestine is at present mainly an agricultural country, but its industries are growing and will rapidly absorb new immigrants. The country is not smaller than Belgium, whose population is many times as large. There is an abundance of energy in the Jordan valley now, thanks to the indomitable faith of one of the country’s great pioneers, widely distributed in the form of cheap electricity readily available for industry. Palestine’s other great asset is its human material. Jewish immigrants, intelligent, hard-working, skilful, and fired by a fierce constructive idealism, have made possible the “conjuring trick.”—Robert Waley Cohen, in The Times, London.